Gretchen Rubin, of The Happiness Project, has a sister who is enjoying success in Hollywood – major success. As a part of her Wednesday’s Tips column, Gretchen has assembled a collection of 6 truisms about succeeding in L.A. From personal experience, I can say they all hold true for any corner of the entertainment industry and any community of entertainment folks – big or small.
2. “People succeed in groups.”
We all know the uncomfortable, competitive feelings that you can get
when friends score a success—it can even feel like that their success
makes your own success less likely. My sister’s motto is “People
succeed in groups,” so good career news for a friend is good for her,
too. Not only is this line true, it makes you a much nicer person.
Personal story 1 – the band leader, guitarist, co-writer and best friend of Russ Taff is a guy named James Hollihan. While on the road, James was often asked the secret of his success. He dryly replied “grow up across the street from Russ Taff.”
Personal story 2 – I once gave a demo tape to, and frequently kept in touch with, THE producer in Nashville. When we were finally able to talk at length he said “look, you’re great, probably even better than Mark _____, but he was the best man in my wedding. We’ve known each other for ever. If he can’t make a session for my records, I change the date of the recording.”
People succeed in groups.
3. “Good news comes right away; bad news never comes.”
This rule applies when you’re waiting to hear whether people liked an
idea, a proposal, a draft, etc. If you don’t hear back pretty quick,
they didn’t like it.
Personal story – I see this in business all the time, and it’s just people being people. No one likes to disappoint someone else, so people avoid it like the plague.
Go read the whole post, print it out and hang it on your mirror. Yes, it’s that good.
